Box Score
Updated StatsCULLOWHEE, N.C. -- The Samford University baseball team put an end to Western Carolina's nine-game Southern Conference winning streak Saturday as the Bulldogs exploded for 13 runs on 17 hits, including a trio of mammoth home runs in a momentous 13-7 victory held at Childress Field at Hennon Stadium.
"I felt like we had some really good timely hitting today, especially late in the game to tack on some of those insurance runs," said Samford head coach
Casey Dunn. "Obviously, the three home runs were outstanding, but we also had a lot of other good at-bats and big hits throughout the game."
In the win,
Samford (20-15, 6-5 SoCon) received three-hit performances from junior center fielder
T.J. Dixon, junior right fielder
Heath Quinn and sophomore designated hitter
Austin Edens. Every member of the Bulldogs' starting lineup tallied at least one base hit, while Edens powered a pair of deep home runs for a second straight day.
Edens, Samford's preseason All-American from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has already hit four home runs in two games this series and has upped his season total to 12. Quinn, who entered the series as the nation's leading home run hitter, blasted his 15
th of the season in the seventh inning as he and Edens went back-to-back in the frame to take all of the wind out of the Catamounts' sails.
Western Carolina (18-15, 9-2 SoCon) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with a pair of runs in both the first and second innings before Samford rallied for six runs of its own to take a 6-0 lead in the fifth.
The Bulldogs'
Stephen Jones (3-0) came on in relief in the second inning of action and earned the victory for Samford as he pitched five full innings of scoreless baseball. Jones, a true freshman, only allowed a total of four hits and shut down the Catamounts' powerful offensive attack to propel the Bulldogs to victory.
"
Stephen Jones was fantastic for us today," Dunn said. "He's been throwing the ball so well out of the pen that it makes me kind of torn, because part of me wants to get him back into the weekend rotation, but the other part of me wants to keep him out in the pen where he's been so effective. Stephen was huge today and I thought Jack (Rude) came in and went 1-2 to finish the game and that was big as well."
Following Jones' performance in the middle of the game, Samford's
Josh Rich,
Wyatt Burns and
Jack Rude all came on to pitch en route to the Bulldogs' victory. Rich struck out three hitters in 1.2 innings of action, while Burns and Rude both came in to pitch out of jams. Samford's pitching staff only allowed a total of three runs in the final seven innings of action.
Western Carolina scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 9-6.
Then, with one out in the top of the ninth, Samford's
Jared Watson reached on an error by the shortstop. Seniors
Danny Rodriguez and
Richard Greene then tallied back-to-back singles to ignite another Bulldog rally. Second baseman
Frankie Navarrete drew a key one-out walk before Dixon roped a single down the left-field line and
Hunter Swilling drove in a run with a deep sacrifice fly.
All in all, Samford tacked on four huge insurance runs in the inning to put the game out of reach.
Saturday marked Western Carolina's first SoCon loss since their opening game in league play. The Bulldogs' triumph snapped the Catamounts' nine-game winning streak against conference opponents.
Rodriguez, Samford's sure-handed shortstop, turned in a 2-for-4 outing at the plate and drove in a pair of runs. Greene also notched a two-hit outing and scored a run, while Navarrete crossed the dish twice and went 1-for-3 at the plate.
The Bulldogs' Swilling,
Alex Lee and Watson also registered hits Saturday. Western Carolina's Bryan Sammons (5-2) was tagged with the loss. He allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits, while pitching 6.2 innings.
"They didn't pitch the ball well today, but we took advantage of it," said Dunn. "That's the encouraging thing is that we were able to take advantage of their mistakes. That's what we're going to have to do right now with the way we're swinging it. We took advantage of some opportunities today and tomorrow we just need to do a better job, pitching-wise, of getting off to a good start."
This weekend's series will conclude Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs and Catamounts square off in the rubber match of the three-game set being held here at Childress Field at Hennon Stadium.
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Box Score
Updated Stats
